Crossville RV Community Development Set To Exceed $44 Million In Housing Values

Monday, July 28, 2014

The Gardens RV Villages, a luxury housing development specializing in sales to retiring RV owners, announced the results of a recent analysis of property values. The survey shows the appraised value of the Tennessee-based community of 170-plus homes located on 60 acres within the city limits of Crossville to be in excess of $32 million. Based upon current averages, the estimated value of sales of new properties currently being added this summer, upon build-out, will be $12 million over the next 36 months.

“The Gardens’ 300-plus owners – almost all of whom are retired – are model citizens, frequently volunteering and getting active in supporting the community,” says Crossville Mayor J.H. Graham. “We have long benefited from similar retirement developments in our area, Fairfield Glade, Lake Tansi and Cumberland Cove. Residents of these communities contribute richly without drawing on civic resources. The City of Crossville has the added advantage of the Gardens RV Village being located within our city limits. What Fairfield Glade and the others have done for the county, the Gardens is now doing for Crossville.”

The Gardens RV Villages developer, Tim Wilson, is well on his way to making Crossville the RV retirement community of the East Coast. “I was born here and am happy to have been able to build a development that not only attracts affluent retirees to the area who will pay taxes and spend money locally, but that attracts attention from all over the country,” he says. “The Gardens is one of only three true RV home base communities on the East Coast, the other two being in Florida.”

Mr. Wilson mentions that when he promotes The Gardens at RV rallies, he must first “sell” RV’ers on Tennessee and secondly, on the idea of making Crossville their home base. “Of our considerable advertising budget, we actually spend a greater percentage on promoting the community and the city than we do on the actual project,” he says. “I’d say that 90 percent of our homeowners prior to visiting with me at a RV rally or expo had never even considered Tennessee as a retirement state.

“Our bank has been proud to provide financing to new homeowners at The Gardens over the years,” said Larry Henson, community president of First National Bank of Tennessee. “We were not surprised to learn that the subdivision is valued at over $500,000 per acre. We’ve long recognized it to be one of the more successful subdivisions in Tennessee. Their housing values actually went up during the recession and this year, alone, they will have done more than $2 million in residential construction. I’ve enjoyed getting to know our clients who purchase homes in The Gardens personally and have a great deal of admiration and respect for them. In addition, I appreciate the fact that they add to our economy without requiring much in the way of services, themselves; they’re contributors to the community; not takers.”

"The Gardens RV Community is truly a value-added and unique contributor to the local economy," said Brad Allamong, president/CEO of the Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce. "It attracts new residents to our community who in turn reinvest through local spending, which in turn, creates new jobs and generates more taxes. We are real glad that the Gardens RV Community is located here!"

“We have enjoyed our success here in Crossville,” said Mr. Wilson. “We are currently looking at two other destinations in Tennessee for future expansion. Where we will go will depend on the physical location (within a two-hour drive of Crossville will be preferable), as well as the economic, political and cultural climate.”

The Gardens RV Villages has grown to more than 170 full-sized homes and huge attached garages owned by RV enthusiasts who are typically retirees with a passion for exploration, travel and socializing. Visitors to The Gardens can choose a resale house or buy a lot and have their house custom-designed as either a stand-alone or side-by-side home with garage space for their rig, tow vehicle, family car and any other ‘toys.’

“Thanks to our Tennessee location, our owners are thrilled with the amount of house they can get for the money,” said Mr. Wilson. His father, James Wilson, originated the concept for the Gardens RV community and selected Crossville because of the area’s excellent security, the beauty of the Cumberland Plateau on which it sits and its centralized location. RVers are within a day’s or a day-and-a-half drive of the entire Eastern Seaboard from Maine to Florida. Plus, the low cost of living, absence of income tax and other factors have earned Bankrate’s as well as notice in Money magazine’s selection of Tennessee as one of the top retirement destinations.

NOTICE: The Hamilton County Register’s Office did not publish this data. All information in the Register’s Office is public information as set out in T.C.A. 10-7-503. For questions regarding this report, please call Chattanoogan.com at 423 266-2325. GI numbers, listed when street addresses are not available, refer to the location of transactions (book number and page number) ... (click for more)

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